A new CDC report estimates that, thanks to our growing reliance on international agriculture, foodborne disease from imported food has risen in both 2009 and 2010.

Between 2005 and 2010, 39 outbreaks and 2,348 illnesses were linked to imported food from 15 countries (half of those occurred in 2009 and 2010). Fish is the leading culprit when it comes to outbreaks, while spices are a close second.

Hannah Gould, an epidemiologist at the CDC and lead author of the report, clarified to sources:

"As our food supply becomes more global, people are eating foods from all over the world, potentially exposing them to germs from all corners of the world, too. We saw an increased number of outbreaks due to imported foods during recent years, and more types of foods from more countries causing outbreaks."

Kinda scary. Especially if the food is from Asia, because that's where half of the outbreaks originated from.

We wish we could say, "Watch what you eat!" Unfortunately, there really is no easy way to determine if the fish you buy at the market is infected with bacteria that will cause a foodborne illness.

Let's hope the CDC figures out a way to protect our food supply from international diseases!